Household wealth status and overweight and obesity among adult women in Bangladesh and Nepal

BACKGROUND In South Asia, women were reported to be more likely to have higher normal body weight. However, nationally representative evidence on the association between socioeconomic status and body weight in terms of regional cut-offs for body mass index is limited for South Asian women. This study aimed to address this gap by investigating the association between household wealth status and overweight and obesity among adult women in Bangladesh and Nepal. METHODOLOGY Cross-sectional data on 6,144 Nepalese and 17,683 Bangladeshi women were obtained from most recent Demographic and Health Surveys in these countries. Cut-offs for overweight and obesity were defined as per World Health Organization recommendation for South Asian population. RESULTS The mean age of respondents was respectively 28.76 (9.74) and 31.01 (9.21) in Nepal and Bangladesh. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was respectively 13.5% and 14% for Nepal and 15.3% and 24.2% for Bangladesh. Compared with women living in poorest households, the odds of being overweight were respectively 3.44, 2.12, 1.46 and 1.19 times higher for women living in richest, richer, middle and poorer wealth status households in Nepal. In Bangladesh, compared with poorest households, women in richest, richer, middle and poorer households had respectively 98%, 60%, 32% and 22% higher odds of being overweight. Among Bangladeshi women, the odds of being obese in richest households were 4.62 (adjusted odds ratio = 4.572; 95% confidence interval = 3.813-5.484) times and among Nepalese women 8.54 (adjusted odds ratio = 8.452; 95% confidence interval = 5.228-13.663) times higher compared with those in poorest households. CONCLUSION Higher household wealth is associated with an increased likelihood of being overweight and obese among adult women in Bangladesh and Nepal. Using the regional cut-offs for body mass index shows that the prevalence of obesity among women has for the first time exceeded that of overweight in both countries.